Republic of Angola orders 186 Modular Steel Bridges from Acrow
Acrow, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, has announced a project to supply 186 modular steel bridges to the Republic of Angola.
The structures will contribute to efforts to modernize Angola’s road and transportation infrastructure and will be installed throughout the country by Angolan engineers, technicians and contractors who will be trained by Acrow in the assembly, installation and maintenance of the bridges.
The financing arrangements for the project were formalized during the recent U.S.-Africa Business Summit held May 6-9, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. The premier annual event of the Corporate Council on Africa, the Summit provided a forum for more than 1,500 U.S. and African public and private sector executives, government representatives, investors, and entrepreneurs to advance sustainable business partnerships.
Acrow has provided sustainable infrastructure solutions to more than 150 countries worldwide since its founding in 1951. Since the 1990s, the firm has supplied more than two thousand bridges to more than 40 African nations. These durable and permanent infrastructure assets are designed to withstand the most rugged conditions and are particularly well-suited for secondary and rural road networks. Manufactured to the finest international quality standards, they are easily customized to meet site requirements. They are cost-effective, quickly transported to the most remote or challenging sites, and can be assembled in days or weeks using local labor and minimal heavy equipment.
Through its comprehensive financed Bridge Development Program model, Acrow can leverage a global network of financial institutions and other sources of capital to arrange financing for qualified bridge projects and facilitate the process of securing export credit guarantees and other development finance arrangements. In the past, Acrow has worked on transformative, large-scale infrastructure development projects in numerous nations including recent projects in Ghana, Cameroon and Zambia.
“For decades, a mission of Acrow’s has been to provide transformative small and large-scale infrastructure development programs with a focus on Africa. Our experience in bringing the three key elements of these programs together – bridges, finance, training – makes us an ideal partner for the most complex projects,” said Paul Sullivan, President – International Business at Acrow.
Bill Killeen, Acrow CEO, added: “At Acrow, we understand the importance of high-quality, sustainable transportation infrastructure and the generational impact it can have on the communities it serves. We are delighted to be able to be of service to the Republic of Angola in support of the modernization of the road and transportation infrastructure across the country, and we look forward to a continuing partnership as the project develops.”
The project in Angola will be financed through Standard Chartered Bank and supported by loan guarantees issued by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), the nation’s official export credit agency.
In October 2023, project partners Acrow, Standard Chartered Bank and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic Angola were announced as winners of EXIM’s inaugural “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment Deal of the Year Award.” The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment is a Biden-Harris Administration initiative dedicated to developing a values-driven, high-impact partnership with other G7 nations to meet the infrastructure needs of low- and middle-income countries.
